The Next Day
by VampAmber
Summary: Mugen and Fuu meet once again. Lots of alcohol was involved, though. Was it really a mistake? Things always look completely different the next day. Rated PG-13 for some language, and sexual situations.
1. Chapter 1

"That was a mistake," Mugen said bluntly.

"Definitely," Fuu responded.

The two sat in awkward silence for a few moments. Fuu finally broke the tension by getting up and gathering her clothing. They were strewn about the floor, mixed in with Mugen's. She hastily got dressed, keeping her back turned to Mugen the entire time.

Instead of watching her dress, like any self-respecting lecher would do, Mugen just yawned and scratched his head. He didn't bother getting dressed, because he figured she'd already seen it all last night.

Finally finished getting dress, Fuu looked over at Mugen awkwardly. "Umm, I need to go. I got to go to work… sometime." With that, she rushed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Mugen just stared into space for a few seconds, never being the one to wake up quickly. When the events of last night settled upon his brain, he thought one thing, and one thing only: I hope I was good.

After finally finding her father, Fuu had parted from her two companions and went her own way, as she had thought was what she should do. She ended up in a nice little town, and managed to find herself another job as a waitress. This time, though, the tea house didn't burn down. Everything was quite normal and calm. Which Fuu couldn't stand, for some reason.

She made a few friends, but nobody significant. Her day usually consisted of work, chores, and eating. She was bored, but didn't know how to fix it. The only interesting place in the town after she was done with work was the bar. She became a regular there after she'd been in town for two months.

Of course, that would have to be where Mugen would show up, unexpected, five months later.

After yet another long, boring day at work, Fuu was excited to head to the bar. She was really starting to meet interesting people there, and it seemed that's what she had been missing. She hoped there were new travelers tonight.

She didn't spot him as she walked in. She went to join a table with a friend from work sitting at it. She ordered her usual, watered down sake, and started talking to her friend. She only noticed him when she went to get another weak sake.

Fuu stopped dead in her tracks, and stared at him in amazement. "Mugen?" She said it before her eyes even believed themselves.

"Yeah, what?" Mugen said, turning around. Fuu could tell that he was already tipsy from the way his movements were a little wobbly.

"Mugen," she said again, not sure if a hug now would be proper or not. She had missed Jin and Mugen so much since they had all parted. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," Mugen said and smiled. If he were honest with himself, he kinda missed the little brat. "C'mon, sit down. Have a drink. On me." He laughed at her shocked look.

Fuu sat down, and was about to order her weak sake when Mugen pushed a full sake container at her. To be polite, she sipped at it. Pretty good, actually, she thought. "What are you doing here?" she asked again, hoping he'd answer this time.

"Got a job." Mugen never did overstate things, Fuu recalled.

"What kind of job?" Fuu asked, sipping at the sake more. Men were so annoying sometimes.

"Guard. The guy's paying me to watch his house. Free money for watching some stupid house," Mugen smiled. He raised his cup of sake to Fuu in a toast.

Fuu toasted, and poured herself another cup. Sake tasted a lot better when it wasn't watered down.

On her second container already, Fuu looked at Mugen, bleary-eyed. Mugen looked back, equally as bleary (even though he was on his fourth). "You know," Fuu said, speaking slowly so as not to lose her place. "You know, I always liked your hair. It looks so… interesting." Isn't what she had planned on saying, but it worked.

Mugen chuckled, and took another drink. "I like your face. It's so tiny," he said. Fuu sure did look really cute tonight. Or did she always look like that? Mugen didn't care, and took another drink.

An hour later, the two friends were plastered. Fuu giggled for no reason, and Mugen joined her. "You know," Mugen said, "I got a room close."

"Oooh, a room," Fuu slurred, impressed that he had a room for some reason. The sake tasted so good.

"Here it is," Mugen said. Fuu stumbled in, laughing. Mugen caught her before she fell, having better reflexes drunk than her, because it wasn't his first time.

"Hi," she said as he kept holding her.

Mugen thought about putting her down on the futon, but decided to kiss her instead. Their lips met, and Fuu moaned slightly. The kiss was sloppy, due to them being drunk, but it was still the best kiss Fuu could ever remember having. She slid her hands up Mugen's back, underneath his shirt.

Clothing strewn all over the floor, Mugen looked down at Fuu's naked body in appraisal. He didn't know how he could've missed her being this sexy.

Fuu giggled. "C'mere," she said, and pulled him down on top of her by his neck.

Sheets tangled, bodies moving. Sweat. A loud moan, followed by a softer sigh. Heavy breathing. The smell of sex hanging heavily in the air.

Fuu curled up to Mugen's body, ready to fall asleep. She sighed happily, and snuggled in closer. Mugen wrapped his arm around her small body, and kissed her on top of her head. They both fell asleep with a smile on their faces.

Fuu still couldn't believe that she woke up this morning, curled up against Mugen. There was a lot of alcohol involved, but still.

She finger-brushed her hair as she walked towards the place she was staying. An image of fingers sliding down her stomach made her almost shiver. She closed her eyes and tried to will the image away, but it was only replaced with one of Mugen holding himself above her on his hands, and her reaching up to stroke his face.

"But why did it have to be him for my first time?" She said softly. She was only sixteen, after all. Why did it have to be him?

She shook her head as she unlocked the door and let herself in. Thankfully, she had the day off. She flopped down on her futon and sighed. The headache making itself known with the power of a rock slide didn't help matters either. She drew the curtains and closed her eyes, in hopes that it would make it go away. All of it.

She fell asleep. She dreamt of Mugen, and of soft caresses and murmurings of sweet nothings. She dreamt that he looked in her eyes, that he kissed her neck, that he was as gentle as possible.

When she woke up, she decided to never have the dream again. Her stomach growled, and she decided to get some lunch at the tea house where she worked.

Half an hour after Fuu left, Mugen was still waking himself up. He finally put some pants on, and grabbed something to drink. His hangover was pulsing with his heartbeat, and he still felt a little dizzy. He couldn't completely recall the events of last night, but he could remember that he had finished off five things of sake. "No wonder my damn head hurts so much," he muttered as he finished dressing.

He strapped his sword to his back, and went to check on the house that he had been hired to guard. The guy was paranoid, no doubt about it. He thought that the Yakuza was after his collection of scrolls. Just plain stupid, as far as Mugen was concerned.

"Least it pays well," Mugen again muttered to himself. His stomach reminded him that it was about lunchtime, so he headed towards a tea house he'd seen on his way into town last night. Almost looks like that one where Fuu worked, he thought, before entering.

Fuu's friend from the bar last night was the one that greeted her when she went in. "I saw you with that cute guy last night," she said, hoping to get all the juicy details.

"I used to know him," Fuu said, really not wanting to get into it at the moment. Her head was yelling, and her mouth was dry.

"Really? Where'd you guys go when you left? You both looked pretty drunk," she said, as if expecting Fuu to tell her all the secrets of the universe, just because she asked.

"Nowhere. Don't wanna talk about it." Fuu grabbed the first available seat and sat down. "My head hurts, my mouth is dry, and I just want tea and a lunch."

"You sure are grumpy when you're hung over. The usual?" Fuu nodded, and was then left alone.

"More dumplings! These are good," a loud voice called from the corner opposite of where Fuu was sitting. She didn't even have to look to know who was doing the yelling. Maybe if she just ate quickly and left…

"Hey Fuu," her friend called. "It's your friend from last night. You guys should eat together."

"No, no, I really don't," Fuu started.

"Nonsense. I'll put your food over there for you," her friend fluttered her eyes in that 'he's cute, go after him you dunce' sort of way. Fuu trudged her way over to the table of her embarrassing doom.

"Hey," Mugen said, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened last night. Fuu just sat silent until her friend left them alone.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"I was hungry." Fuu wanted to strangle him right now, but it would be bad to do in front of the other customers. Instead, she just stared at him as if he were insane. Which he probably was, now that Fuu thought about it.

"I meant, why are you here at my work?" Fuu started to drink her tea, if just to moisten her mouth.

"Didn't know you worked here," Mugen said. Fuu just stared down at her tea.

After a few minutes of silence and the sounds of eating, and the noises made by the other patrons, Mugen grinned. Then he started to chuckle a little.

"What?" Fuu asked, afraid he might be laughing at her in the light of day, without sake to muddle his vision.

"You're embarrassed," he answered, continuing to chuckle lightly.

"Am not," Fuu said, blushing bright red to show how big of a lie that was.

"Shouldn't be. It's a natural act and all that. Great way to get the tension out." Mugen stretched his arms up, trying to get the crick out of his neck.

Fuu mumbled something, but Mugen couldn't quite make out what she had said.

"Can't hear you," he said. He was starting to enjoy this just a little.

"I said," She all but whispered, "that it was… my first time." She turned a darker shade of red, and ducked her head so that no one could see.

"Oh, is that all?" Mugen laughed. He'd dealt with this before. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It is to me," Fuu shot back.

"Maybe we could try again sometime. You know, sober and all. Make things all better." He laughed at his own joke. He wouldn't complain if she took him up on his offer, but he wasn't going to let her know he was actually a little hopeful. Her skin had been so smooth beneath his rough hands.

"Pervert!" Fuu smacked Mugen on the arm, before stalking out of the tea house, most of her meal untouched. The patrons all stared at Mugen. He just shrugged, and started to eat the dumplings Fuu had left.

"I can't believe he would say such a thing," Fuu said to herself. She didn't care how she looked to everybody, talking to herself like this, because she was just that angry. "In a public place, no less." She let out a sound of discontent, and continued stalking off towards her home.

Then again, from what she could remember, it was pretty fun… No. No thoughts like that. It's Mugen. Mugen. He's the wrong sort to get tangled up with in that way. Jin had been a lot more dependable than Mugen. A lot less lewd, too. But she had never really felt anything other than sisterly affection for Jin, while Mugen…

No. She refused to think those thoughts. Last night was a one-time-only mistake. She once again unlocked her door and flopped down on her futon. Only this time, her mind was racing too much to fall asleep.

Do I really have feelings for Mugen? She thought. I mean, I did think he looked good when I was traveling with him. Fuu shook her head. That was a long time ago, she continued. I have no idea what he's been doing since then. Who he's been sleeping with.

That last thought gave her pause. Was she actually jealous? She laughed out loud. "Of course I'm not jealous," she told herself. "Why would I be interested in a jerk like him? I could do so much better!" The last statement didn't sound as convincing as it would have yesterday. "Damn it," she whispered.

Mugen finished his meal, as well as Fuu's, and paid both checks. Inconsiderate girl, leaving him to pay the bill. What he ever saw in her, he would never understand. Even though she was a lot prettier than she was the last time he saw her. She had matured in those seven months. Not just in the chest, but in the face, the waist, the hips. Mugen smiled, remembering those hips.

Walking back to the house he was supposed to guard, Mugen shook his head. Getting all sentimental over some kid. Stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that evening, Fuu poked her head out of her door, wondering if it was safe to go to the bar tonight. Mugen, the drunkard that he was, would most likely be there. But it was the only thing to do that was any fun, as far as Fuu was concerned. The ultimate choice: boredom or awkward meetings?

She locked the door behind her as she started walking to the bar.

"Please don't let him be here, please don't let him be here," she whispered as she opened the door. She scanned the entirety of the place, and there were no Mugens to be found. Heaving a big sigh of relief, she started to walk inwards, until a hand clasped her should. She yelped and turned around.

"You owe me for lunch, you know," Mugen said, letting go of Fuu's shoulder. He smiled to show her he was only half-serious, and frowned when she turned around and walked away from him without answering. "Women," he muttered.

Hoping that he didn't follow, Fuu found an empty table and sat down. It was still early, so there were a few empty seats around her. She hoped one of her friends would come soon. She always hated sitting by herself.

Carrying his drink, Mugen inched his way to where Fuu was sitting, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. He sat down in the seat next to her, and offered her the other drink he was carrying. Fuu got really grumpy when she was angry, so it was best to make her less angry, so as not to be made a fool of again.

"You can take your drink and…" Fuu said.

Mugen cut her off. "This is me, trying to apologize, you idiot. Just take it and be happy." Mugen shoved the drink into her hand and slumped his shoulders. "You try to do something nice."

"Uh… Thanks." Mugen's apology had caught Fuu off-guard. She didn't even realize he knew of the concept. She only sipped at her drink this time, not looking forward to another hangover at work tomorrow. "Sorry about earlier," she said softly.

"I was trying to… to compliment you or something. Make you feel better." Mugen chugged his drink. He was about to get up to get another one, when Fuu put her hand on his arm.

"Really?" Fuu's eyes almost sparkled. No girl should be that desperate for a compliment, Mugen thought.

"Yeah," he said, sitting back down again. "You turned out to be not-ugly. I figured that'd be the best way to make ya feel better."

"Ass," she said and smacked him on the arm again. Only this time, she didn't stalk off. She just sipped on her drink.

"No stalking off?" Mugen was really starting to enjoy teasing the girl.

"Screw you," she hissed back at him.

"Maybe later," he responded, enjoying this new battle as much as he enjoyed fighting.

"Or never again," she growled through gritted teeth. "Don't make me regret not strangling you, you jerk."

"You never could've touched me," Mugen said, chuckling.

"Oh yeah?" Fuu said before she reached for his throat. He grabbed her arms quickly, twisted them into the least uncomfortable hold he knew, and smiled widely at her face, which was only inches from his.

"Ass," she said while stopping to struggle.

"You already said that one," he said softly, so only Fuu could hear it. "You know you love it."

Fuu stopped, not able to think of anything to say. Unfortunately for her, Mugen took that chance to lean in and kiss her on the lips. She surrendered to the feeling, before remembering that it was Mugen. She pushed him off, struggling to get out of her seat in the same movement. Fuu glared her worst at him, but he just laughed.

"I hate you," she said coldly. She turned and left.

"See you tomorrow," Mugen called to her back.

Fuu made sure to walk a few blocks before sitting down on the ground. What the hell had that been all about? Why had he kissed her? She couldn't figure it out.

Her lips still tingled from the brief kiss. Why? Why did it have to be that jerk? Why Mugen? Tears slid down her face. "I can't like him. I just can't," she whispered.

Mugen watched Fuu's retreating figure until long after she was out of sight. He grinned smugly. Something about that kiss had made him want more. It was like a drug, almost. None of the other women he had slept with had felt like this. But then again, now that he was thinking about it, he hadn't actually known most of those women. Paid women always felt detached.

Fuu had felt real. He couldn't explain the feeling, or even what exactly it felt like. He just knew that he liked seeing her. Damn, were women confusing. He was about to go and order another drink, before he decided that he didn't really want another.

He started on his way home, trying over and over again to figure out what was so different about Fuu. He could actually talk to her, for starters. And with her, it wasn't just about sex. He vaguely remembered stroking her hair, and holding her tight. It had felt right at the time. It had felt like the thing to do.

Shaking his head, Mugen decided to stop thinking for the night and just go to sleep. Maybe some rest would clear his clearly insane mind.

Fuu woke up with just enough time to throw on some clean clothing and dash to work. She had slept like the dead last night, and couldn't figure out why. After coming home, she had sat down, feeling positively exhausted. It wasn't even that late, so she didn't understand why. Instead of figuring out the reason, she wiped the tears from her face with a towel and fell onto her bed, asleep in less than a minute.

"Sorry I'm late," Fuu said as she rushed in. Thankfully, she said it to an empty room.

"Been a slow day, Fuu-chan, so there is no need to apologize," her boss told her. He was a nice old gentleman, who had run this tea house with his daughter since his wife had passed on some years back.

"Thank you," she said as she bowed. She then went back and put on her apron.

Work was all but dead for most of the day. Fuu was disappointed. What better way to not have to think about Mugen than to be too busy to do so? Frowning slightly, Fuu tried to look more cheerful for the customer that had just came in…

"Oh, you," Fuu said when she saw that it was just Mugen.

"Those dumplings were good, so I want some more," Mugen replied, ignoring the tone of voice she had used.

Fuu just rolled her eyes. "Coming right up," she said in a flat voice. She all but ran back to put in the order. "Please make him eat quickly and go away without bothering me?" Fuu whispered.

When the dumplings were ready to be served, Fuu's boss pulled her aside before she could go out to the dining area. "It's been so slow today, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you were to take your meal now. You can sit with that nice man you know." The old man smiled, and Fuu just couldn't find it in her heart to tell him 'no.'

"Why do you keep doing this to me?" Fuu asked as she sat the plate in front of Mugen. She grabbed a dumpling for herself, since it was, technically, her lunch too.

"Doing what?" Mugen said through a mouthful of food.

"You keep…" Fuu realized she didn't really have an argument here. "Being where I am," she finished lamely.

"Lucky, maybe?" Mugen said, and smiled.

Fuu stuck her tongue out at him. "Ha ha, very funny." She then set to work on finishing her share of the food before he could get to it.

"Wasn't joking," Mugen said softly.

"What?" Fuu asked. She couldn't believe her ears.

"I said I wasn't joking." He grinned big, then, which made Fuu unsure if he was joking or not. She tilted her head and looked at him. "Quit doing that, you look like an idiot," Mugen said, turning his head away from her.

"Jerk," Fuu said to him. Only this time, she didn't sound very angry. Mugen turned around and smiled at her. "What?" she asked, when he didn't look away.

"That seems to be your favorite word, lately," he commented, still smiling.

"Because you are one," she muttered.

"Fuu?" Mugen asked, in a voice Fuu had never heard him use before.

She turned towards him. "What?" Before she knew it, his lips were once again on hers. They tasted of dumpling and tea and something that was just… Mugen. She was so startled that she didn't think to push back. Why do I have such bad luck? Fuu thought, before she pushed Mugen away from her. "Why do you keep doing that?" Fuu shrieked.

Mugen just laughed. "Because I like it." For him, it actually was that simple. He liked kissing Fuu's sweet little lips, liked feeling her respond to him.

Fuu was at a loss for words. Finally, she called Mugen "Ass!" in a loud voice, and stalked back to the kitchen, where she sat down on the floor farthest away from the dining room that she could find.

Mugen just sighed and continued eating. That girl would drive him crazy before too long. Why the hell did she have to have such an effect on him, Mugen wondered. Not like she had the biggest chest, or anything. He just couldn't understand it. But the thing he couldn't understand at all, was the fact that she kept pushing him away. Judging from her response to his advances, she definitely liked him kissing her. Yet she always yelled at him and ran away. Why? All the thinking was giving him a headache.

Fuu sat in her spot and cried. "Fuu?" The manager's daughter asked, when she saw her crying on the floor. "Are you okay, Fuu-chan?"

"I don't know," Fuu said softly, brushing away the tears.

"Maybe you should go home and rest." She had always treated Fuu like a daughter, and this time was no exception.

"Maybe," Fuu said, the tears starting to lessen. "When he's gone."

"Is there something you need to talk about?"

"I can't like him. I just can't," Fuu said sadly. She didn't mean to say that, but it just came out. Might as well go with it, Fuu thought, figuring she couldn't get any more embarrassed at this point. "He's a thug, a hired warrior. He kills people. And he's a jerk. So I shouldn't like him," she finished, her voice flattening with each word, not really convincing even herself at this point.

"Oh, he does sound like one to stay away from," she responded, using her motherly-est voice. Wiping a tear off of Fuu's face, she continued, "You should go home, Fuu-chan. Rest up, and clear your mind."

"I think I will now…" Fuu said, her tears having stopped.

"Feel better," the boss's daughter said as Fuu left, checking first that Mugen was gone, of course.

"Even she thinks I should stay away from him," Fuu muttered under her breath. She didn't even convince herself. "What should I do?"

Fuu lay down on her bed, after closing the curtains. Her head hurt from all the stress of the last two days.

"What do I do?" she whispered, before falling asleep.

She dreamed of her father. She saw him leaving her mother, leaving her. "Why did daddy leave?" Fuu asked her mother.

"I don't know, Fuu, I just… don't know." Her mother could no longer hold the tears back.

"Do daddies always leave?" Fuu asked, in that childlike way that questions like this could only be asked in.

"Not always," her mother replied.

"But they do leave?" Fuu was confused.

"Yes, Fuu, they do."

The dream seemed to switch scenes, then. She was no longer watching her father leave, but instead, watching her mother dying.

"Never give up, Fuu-chan," her mother said in the low voice of sickness. "Keep going, no matter what."

"How?" Fuu asked, grief-stricken at the thought of her mother passing.

"Your heart will tell you," her mother whispered, before becoming silent.

Asleep. Sleep was good for the ill, Fuu thought. She just couldn't understand how her heart could tell her something. How does a heart 'speak'?

Yet another change in scenery. Now, she was in Mugen's room. He was kissing her, and she was sighing. He held her close.

"I never wanna let you go," Mugen said softly.

"Then don't," Fuu whispered back.

Something about those words, the look in his face, made Fuu want to cry. How could such a brute be so… open? Her heart ached for him. It yearned.

She remembered the other kisses. Stolen as they were, they were still sweet with that yearning. Fuu shifted in her sleep, a tear trailing its way down her cheek.

She woke up, the urge to cry very strong. "How do I know what my heart wants when it hurts so much?" Fuu asked the air, even though she already knew the answer.

She peeked out the curtain, and saw that she had slept through to night time. Mugen would probably be at the bar by now. Mugen… Her heart panged.

Fuu sat in silence, trying to figure out what to do. She was afraid to follow her feelings, afraid that he would leave one day. But she was also afraid of him leaving soon, without having done anything about this. What if he left tonight? Fuu thought, and started to panic. She rushed around her room, trying to make herself look as nice as possible. She wouldn't give up. She would follow her heart. Even if it did lead to Mugen.

She felt an invisible weight lift off her chest as she thought this. Maybe that's why it had hurt so much. Because she wouldn't listen. "Well, I guess I'll find out," she said, as bravely as she could.

Mugen had spent the entire afternoon, thinking. He just didn't know what to do about Fuu. She was so… He couldn't even think of a word to describe her. She felt right. That was the best he could come up with. He had never been the poetic type.

The man who had hired him would be back soon. Mugen wouldn't have a reason to stay after that. Because 'bugging Fuu' was not a good enough a reason. If she were his girl, maybe.

Mugen smiled at that thought. Fuu as his girl. He'd never met a woman like her, that was for certain. And man cannot live on hired whores alone. He could almost see himself settling down with her. It would be boring as hell, but he could almost see it.

Sighing, Mugen rounded the house once more. Paranoid old man, he thought. Who would want to steal your stupid scrolls? They're just stupid phrases that don't make sense. Heh.

"Off to the bar," he said as the sun started to set behind him. But the prospect didn't seem as good as it usually did. But Mugen refused to think about that right. Just get drunk and forget everything for a little while. Sounded like a plan.

Fuu walked into the bar, and was disappointed when she didn't see Mugen. She's spent all that time, working up the courage to come here, and he didn't even have the decency to show up.

That was when Mugen came out from secluded area by the end of the bar. Fuu just stared for a few moments, trying to get her wits back. She walked towards him, and it almost felt like those amazingly-real dreams she had had earlier.

"Fuu," Mugen said, as he looked up from his drink and saw her walking towards him.

"Mugen, I…" Fuu started, but he cut her off.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk," he muttered. He wanted to apologize before she started to yell at him. He was also honestly sorry, once he started thinking about it. He had treated her terrible. But that was how he treated everybody, so he hadn't noticed. But with her, he had.

"What?" Fuu asked, shocked.

"I said…"

"I heard you, but I don't understand. You're sorry?" Fuu was more confused than ever, and that was saying something, considering her state earlier.

"Yeah," Mugen said, scratching his head and looking to the left. What an uncomfortable conversation. "I've been a total jerk. So I'm sorry. You can hit me now, if you want."

Instead, she sat down next to him. "Thank you," she said, and smiled. Her eyes almost sparkled. Maybe she was wrong about being an absolute jerk. There seemed to be a small bit of him that was actually nice.

"You we're gonna say something?" Mugen asked, pulling Fuu out of her own thought.

"Yeah, there was." Fuu swallowed thickly, about to do one of the bravest things in her short life. She paused, trying to work up the nerve. Then she just barreled right into it. "Don't go," she said, simply.

"I'm not going anywhere," Mugen said, confused.

"I mean, don't leave. Don't leave…" she gulped. "Me." She drew in a deep breath, willing herself to go on, no matter how frightened she was. "I'm sorry about yelling at you." She grinned half-heartedly, hoping he wasn't angry at her.

"You mean, stay with you?" Mugen couldn't believe his ears. For once, she wasn't shoving him away. In fact, she was even pulling him closer.

Fuu nodded. "I… I feel right around you," she said lamely.

"Me too," Mugen said. That was about the most articulate answer he could come up with at the time.

"Really?" Fuu asked, surprised. She had assumed that it was mostly a one-sided thing. She had been willing to live with that. But now…

Mugen chuckled. "Yeah, really."

Fuu started to cry, and that made Mugen panic a little. "Thank you," she said, softly. But Mugen couldn't tell if she was talking to him or not. So he just did the first thing that popped into his head. He kissed her.

This kiss wasn't a mistake. It was as far from a mistake as a kiss could get. Fuu put her hand behind Mugen's head, and he placed his arms on her back.

Definitely not a mistake.


End file.
